Athletics: Final reward for British women's trio

There were outstanding performances from the three British women 1500 metre runners as they reached the European Under-23 Champion- ships final.

Late on Thursday night in the Polish town of Bydgoszcz, Louise Whittaker and Natalie Lewis ran their fastest-ever 1500m, finishing second in their respective heats with times of 4min 15.31sec and 4:14.10.

Lisa Dobriskey, fourth in last year's World Junior Championships and stepping up an age group, finished in that position in a season's best - 4:15.43 - to qualify unexpectedly for the final.

"Louise and I looked at the start list and were ranked seventh and eighth on season's bests," said Dobriskey. "We thought we might not make it and with only 200m to go, there were still 12 in it."

On a good night for the British team, both Tyrone Edgar and Nick Smith qualified for the 100m final where they will attempt to emulate the success of Jonathan Barber two years ago.

Edgar won by the width of his vest from Argo Golberg, the pair sharing the same time of 10.36sec. In his heat, Smith finished third in 10.47, well down on the 10.40 clocked by the French winner, Fabrice Calligny.

Ricky Soos qualified for the 800m final with a second place in his heat in a time of 1:48.81.

The 400m hurdles first round saw Steve Green, fourth in his heat with a time of 51.64, progress as a fastest loser.

Running into a headwind, Jeanette Kwayke was a solid winner of her 100m semi-final with a time of 11.59. The Scottish senior record holder Shirley Webb made it through into the hammer final with a second-round throw of 61.90m.